There's no mistaking Mo's failure in ninth

NEW YORK -- He was talking in a whisper now, replaying the pitch that set him off just moments earlier. He looked nothing like the guy who let out an uncharacteristic primal scream after a mistake that proved costly.

Mariano Rivera blamed himself.

When Jose Guillen's ninth-inning solo blast landed softly in the netting in Monument Park, a disgusted Rivera shouted to nobody in particular.

Rivera's gaffe sank the Yankees in a 3-2 loss to the lowly Royals on another broiling afternoon yesterday at Yankee Stadium.

"Of course, I was upset," Rivera said of his rare display of emotion on the mound. "Bottom line, I didn't do my job. Period. If I made my pitches, I would have been okay."

Instead, the Yankees, who dropped to 32-32, split a four-game series as they begin a three-game set in Oakland tonight.

"You just don't see it very often," manager Joe Girardi said of Rivera giving up the game-winning homer. "He's been so great for us this year. ... It's shocking."

Rivera got ahead of the white-hot Guillen 0-2 before leaving a cutter -- that was supposed to sail inside -- up and over the plate.

"I just think he made a mistake," Girardi said. "He didn't get (the pitch) right where he wanted to and they didn't miss it. It just didn't go where he wanted it to. That's going to happen. They don't have Nintendo controllers, unfortunately."

Guillen, who morphed into an instant Yankee killer over the weekend with nine hits, four homers and 10 RBI in the series, lifted Rivera's offering to left field. Johnny Damon tracked the ball and slowly wandered back to the wall.

"I felt like I was right where I need to be at," Damon said. "The ball just kept going. I looked up and all of a sudden saw it take off to my left. I was kind of in shock when it did. I couldn't believe it kept going."

Neither could Rivera (2-2), who surrendered his second round-tripper in three days after not allowing a home run since last August. The closer has given up just three earned runs in 29 innings this season.

"It's just a bad weekend," starter Mike Mussina said. "He's been so good for two months. Nobody's going to be unhittable for six months. There's going to be a couple stretches where you're going to give up a run or two. It's going to happen from time to time."

Mussina, looking to become the first 10-game winner in the American League, certainly pitched well enough to win, but the Yankees couldn't generate much offense.

Mussina, who had won eight of his previous nine starts, gave up two runs in a season-high eight innings en route to the no-decision. The 39-year-old right-hander scattered seven hits, struck out three and did not issue a walk in an 89-pitch outing.

"It was one of those days where I could have pitched for a long time," Mussina said. "All the stuff you want to be able to do when you pitch, I was able to do most of it. Things were rolling right along pretty smoothly."

Mussina, who had allowed a home run in five consecutive starts, made one mistake: Miguel Olivo's two-run blast that broke a scoreless tie in the seventh inning.

"He got a good swing at a first-pitch curveball," Mussina said. "They beat me doing the same stuff I had done the whole game to that point, and I'd been very successful. So I'm not going to second guess stuff that was working."

The Yankees answered with Alex Rodriguez's two-run home run in their half of the seventh against Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar, who retired 14 consecutive batters during one stretch.

The Yankees threatened in the eighth, but came away empty. After Jorge Posada hit a pinch-hit single, Melky Cabrera advanced Chad Moeller, who pinch-ran for Posada, on a sacrifice bunt. Cabrera slammed his helmet in disgust after first-base umpire Ed Montague called him out when replays showed that he had easily beaten catcher John Buck's throw to first base. The Yankees had a runner in scoring position with one out rather than men at first and second with no outs.

Girardi's club loaded the bases in the ninth, but Joakim Soria, who picked up his 14th save, got Cabrera to hit into a game-ending groundout.